BYU, Hawai’i, Ohio State opposites named Bryan Ivie Award finalists

The Bryan Ivie Award, which is named after the former USC All-American and U.S. Olympian, is presented to the nation’s best opposite in NCAA Division I-II men’s volleyball during the regular season.

Johnson finished the regular season leading the MIVA and eighth in the nation with a 3.98 kills per game average and was in the nation’s top 20 for attack percentage at .349. The All-MIVA selection also was second in the conference averaging 0.44 aces per game as he helped No. 2/2 Ohio State win the MIVA regular season title.

Patch, despite missing the majority of the regular season’s second half with an injury, still had a 4.50 kills per game average on a .354 attack percentage. The 2016 recipient of the Bryan Ivie Award had more than 20 kills in three matches with a season-high 28 kills while hitting .422 in a five-game victory against No. 6/6 UCLA in February.

van Tilburg was third in the nation with a 4.32 kills per game average and in the nation’s top 15 with a .382 attack percentage. The All-MPSF sophomore also had at least 15 kills in 13 regular season matches, including 21 kills on a .533 attack percentage in a sweep against No. 9/9 Stanford in March.

The voting committee for the Bryan Ivie Award was comprised of about 25 college men’s volleyball head coaches and volleyball reporters from around the nation.

The top three vote-getters were named finalists for the Bryan Ivie Award. The winner of the Bryan Ivie Award and the total voting results will be announced Tuesday, April 25.

This is the third year that Off the Block has presented the Bryan Ivie Award. Previous winners of the award include former Pepperdine All-American opposite Parker Kalmbach in 2015.

The Bryan Ivie Award is one of several end of season awards presented by Off the Block. Among the other national awards includes the Lloy Ball Award to the nation’s top setter, Karch Kiraly Award to the nation’s top outside attacker, the Erik Shoji Award to the nation’s top libero and the Ryan Millar Award to the nation’s top middle attacker.

Off the Block is a national award winning website that launched in 2011 and is the nation’s leaders in college men’s volleyball coverage.